WHISTLE WHILE YOU WORK

BURNISHED CLAY WHISTLE

CERAMICS I

clay, metallic rubbing compounds & glue/water mixture

Probably one of the most challenging assignments of the year were these clay whistles.

Building the foundation was a snap,

just two pinch bowls scored together then paddled.

But it was the making the clay whistle that was a real beast.

Here you see the kids spending days trying to line up a minuscule flap of clay

 to the air chamber to get a bit of sound.

Trying over and over again are 

(top left) seniors Eduardo Jacinto, Elijah Ramos, and Arun Ramakrishnan.

And here we have senior Laarnie Barcelon and juniors Sitara Puliyanda and Erin Burnett concentrating on getting their whistles just right before they move on to burnishing them.

To burnish means to rub the leatherhard clay with a smooth stone or the back of a spoon

 to bring out the sheen on the clay's surface.

Some of the students finished burnished whistles on the greenware shelf waiting to be bisque fired.

And a up close look at those whistles.

 I love how shiny they look and how you can see the light reflecting off the surface.

Now onto a few of the finished ones.

Everyone's favorite and mine belongs to junior Sitara Puliyanda.

I think it's SO COOL how she rubbed the metallic compounds in shapes 

rather than spreading it evenly over the whole surface.

And also how she's blended the red metallic into the blackened area from the sawdust fire.

WOW!!!

I'm thinking pretty darn brilliant young lady  :)

She was also left with interesting linear marks from the pine needles

 we used in the sawdust firing.

(you can see those above)

For these next two,

I couldn't decide which photo I liked best,

 so I put them both up of junior Klyne Madayag

and senior Andrew Perley's whistles.

I really like the finish on both,

especially the coppery highlights that Kylne achieved.

I also feel that Andrew's shaping was super cool.

And finally we have these last two whistles

 which were created by senior Laarnie Barcelon(left) and Arun Ramakrishnan (right).

Arun's markings on the side front from the sawdust firing are so interesting,

and Laarnie's multiple angled sides makes hers really fun to hold in your hands. 

Thanks for hanging in there with this assignment young ones.

I know it was difficult.

But wasn't it so amazing when you had that aha moment when your clay whistled for the first time?

Yeap

One of your best Whitney memories made.  :)